The deadline to file asylum claims in the U.S.
is one year after your last arrival to the U.S. There
are exceptions to this one-year deadline, but they are not
easily proven. It is important to get good legal advice and
consider your eligibility for asylum before the one year
anniversary of your coming to the U.S.
For those who file within the one year deadline, it is still
quite possible to obtain asylum or refugee status from the
U.S. government if one can prove a well-founded fear of
persecution in your home country. Some examples of persons
who can present credible arguments for asylum are:
- Persons who are members of a religious minority in Russia
such as Pentecostal Christians, Baptists, Jews or Muslims.
- Persons who are members of a religious minority in the Muslim
republics of USSR such as Russian Orthodox, Pentecostal
Christians, Baptists or Jews.
- Members of an ethnic minority such as ethnic Jews, Chechens,
Yakuts, Tatars, Tajiks, Uzbeks or other minority groups
living in Russia.
- Ethnic Russians living in one of the former republics of
USSR other than Russia, including Uzbekistan, Kyrgystan,
Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Georgia, or even the Ukraine.
- Persons who are targets of persecution on account of political
activity in their country, including their defense of minority
rights or reporting corruption or other political activism.
- Women from Muslim republics who would be persecuted for
their non-acceptance of conservative Muslim dress and conduct.
There are many sources of documentation of mistreatment
and persecution of the above groups available through the
Internet and from other sources. Organizations such as Amnesty
International, Human Rights Watch, Union of Counsel for
Soviet Jews, International Christian Concern can provide
documentary support for one's arguments that he or she would
be persecuted in their home country. Give the INS this documentation;
it will strengthen your case.
Document your case with statements from witnesses or certified
records from your home country. Be detailed about the nature
of your family's persecution. In specific terms, describe
interrogation, threats, attacks, beatings, torture, arrests,
harassment, vandalism, other abuse. Include dates and places.
Mention any other problems you have had with the government
authorities which you believe are related such as problems
with the police, difficulties on the job, terminations of
employment, loss of an apartment or difficulties being accepted
to schools.
Finally, it is important to always tell the truth. Lying
or stretching the truth with an asylum officer or judge
only jeopardizes one's case. One's credibility is the most
important factor an INS officer or judge use in determining
one's eligibility for asylum.
WARNING: The following is article
discussing legal issues. It is not intended to be a substitute
for legal advice. We recommend that you get competent legal
advice specific to your case. If you would like such advice
from our office, call (415) 777-4445 or (916) 349-2900 or
(408) 993-9737. |
